Tag: sanctions

The arrest of Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Canada, reportedly related to a violation of U.S. sanctions, will corrode trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, risk consultancy Eurasia Group said Thursday. “Beijing is likely to react angrily to this latest arrest of a Chinese citizen in a third country for violating U.S. law,” Eurasia analysts wrote. Canada’s Department of Justice said on Wednesday the country arrested Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, where she is facing extradit

The arrest of Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Canada, reportedly related to a violation of U.S. sanctions, will corrode trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, risk consultancy Eurasia Group said Thursday.

“Beijing is likely to react angrily to this latest arrest of a Chinese citizen in a third country for violating U.S. law,” Eurasia analysts wrote.

In fact, Global Times — a hyper-nationalistic tabloid tied to the Chinese Communist Party — responded to the arrest by posting on Twitter a statement about trade war escalation it attributed to an expert “close to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.”

“China should be fully prepared for an escalation in the #tradewar with the US, as the US will not ease its stance on China, and the recent arrest of the senior executive of #Huawei is a vivid example,” said the statement, paired with a photo of opposing fists with Chinese and American flags superimposed upon them.

Canada’s Department of Justice said on Wednesday the country arrested Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the U.S. The arrest is related to violations of U.S. sanctions, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

U.S. authorities have been probing Huawei, one of the world’s largest makers of telecommunications network equipment, since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, sources told Reuters in April.

The analysts said the Huawei executive’s arrest will not derail the start of trade negotiations after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting last weekend in Argentina saw them agree to first steps to resolve their trade dispute. Still, they acknowledged, the incident involving Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is likely to cloud talks.

Iraq won’t be left hanging amid Washington’s sanctions on Iran, which supplies almost half of its electricity, experts familiar with U.S. policy say. The President Donald Trump administration in November granted Iraq a 45-day waiver to continue its energy purchases — and at the risk of setting off more instability in the country, the U.S. is now expected to continue allowing transactions with Iran under yet-to-be-decided conditions. “I think that the U.S. is going to try to find a workaround for

Iraq won’t be left hanging amid Washington’s sanctions on Iran, which supplies almost half of its electricity, experts familiar with U.S. policy say.

The President Donald Trump administration in November granted Iraq a 45-day waiver to continue its energy purchases — and at the risk of setting off more instability in the country, the U.S. is now expected to continue allowing transactions with Iran under yet-to-be-decided conditions.

But the sanctions provide a new urgency to accomplish something Baghdad and Washington have been pursuing for some time: reducing the war-weary country’s economic reliance on Tehran.

“I think that the U.S. is going to try to find a workaround for Iraq,” Richard Nephew, who served as the State Department’s lead sanctions expert for negotiations with Iran from 2013 to 2014, told CNBC. “The U.S. government knows that Iraq is a key country in the competition starting between the United States and Iran.”

And after billions spent on years of war and occupation, Washington has a real interest in Iraq’s success, he added, “not least of which is as a bulwark against Iran.” A determination will be made to extend Iraq’s waiver, a state department official told CNBC, though a decision has yet to be reached.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened on Tuesday to close the strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest sea lane for oil shipments, if the United States moves to block the Islamic Republic’s oil exports. In an interview with Iranian State TV President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying: “if someday, the United States decides to block Iran’s oil [exports], no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf.” The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for the transport of oil. In July, Rouhani made simi

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened on Tuesday to close the strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest sea lane for oil shipments, if the United States moves to block the Islamic Republic’s oil exports.

In an interview with Iranian State TV President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying: “if someday, the United States decides to block Iran’s oil [exports], no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf.”

The Trump administration restored sanctions on Iran’s energy industry on Nov. 5. The administration is trying to choke off Iran’s economy in order to pressure Tehran to accept tighter restrictions on its nuclear program, cease ballistic missile tests and end its support for U.S.-designated terror groups.

The sanctions have already cut Iran’s exports by about 1 million barrels per day, but Rouhani is vowing to continue shipping crude.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for the transport of oil. In 2016, 18.5 billion barrels of crude passed through the waterway, or about one-third of all seaborne-traded crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

This is not Rouhani’s first threat of taking such action. In July, Rouhani made similar comments that raised concerns about a confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian president is facing pressure from hardliners to take a more aggressive stance towards the West since Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear accord, Rouhani’s top foreign policy achievement.

Iran has not made a serious attempt to close the strait since the 1980s. Iran threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz in 2011 and 2012, as President Barack Obama marshaled support for international sanctions on Iran over its alleged research into nuclear weapons development.

Military planners generally acknowledged that Iran has the capability to temporarily close off the waterway, but say the U.S. would be able to quickly reopen the strait.

John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital, says that the commentary now is “just bluster” and one that oil analysts have heard many times before. However, he said oil prices would spike were the strait to be shut.

Kilduff points out that the closing of the strait wouldn’t just harm global oil industry but, would hurt Iran itself,” it’s not in their best interest to do it, even though they are getting hammered now with sanctions, it could do long term harm to Iran.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the West was imposing sanctions on Russia to stand up for international law and added that she would address the Sea of Azov issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an upcoming G20 summit. “We don’t impose sanctions on Russia for sanctions’ sake, rather we impose sanctions to make clear that countries, even if their territorial situation puts them close to Russia, have the right to their own development,” she told a Germany-Ukraine conference in Berlin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the West was imposing sanctions on Russia to stand up for international law and added that she would address the Sea of Azov issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an upcoming G20 summit.

“We don’t impose sanctions on Russia for sanctions’ sake, rather we impose sanctions to make clear that countries, even if their territorial situation puts them close to Russia, have the right to their own development,” she told a Germany-Ukraine conference in Berlin. “Those are the principles of international law.”

The European Union’s hawks have called for more sanctions on Russia after a fresh flare-up of tensions with Ukraine but the divided bloc is not going to act swiftly, if at all, diplomatic sources have said.

So far, Trump seems content to let Europe handle the situation, remarking Monday that European leaders were “working on the situation,” Reuters reported. In September, the EU extended Ukraine-related sanctions on 155 persons and 44 entities until March, saying that its “assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the sanctions regime.” A separate series of European Ukraine-related sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy are in place until January and there are san

The incident comes before a G20 meeting in Brazil this weekend where Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet with President Donald Trump, who said Monday that he didn’t like the situation, but refused to condemn the aggression.

It makes it unlikely that Trump will put pressure on his Russian counterpart at the G20 summit to ease up on Ukraine, given the president’s present and past reluctance to openly criticize Russia. So far, Trump seems content to let Europe handle the situation, remarking Monday that European leaders were “working on the situation,” Reuters reported.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, was stronger in her criticism, calling Russia’s action an “outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory” and said such “outlaw actions” made it hard for the U.S. to have a normal relationship with Russia.

European Council President Donald Tusk took to Twitter on Tuesday to condemn the action and called on Russia to release the ships and sailors. Russia has so far refused to do so.

The U.S. and European Union currently have sanctions on Russia in place for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, as well as its role in a pro-Russian uprising in the east of the country, although Russia denied involvement in this.

The EU must decide soon whether to extend those sanctions, which have seen asset freezes and travel bans on individuals alleged to have assisted in the annexation and sectoral sanctions in Russia.

In September, the EU extended Ukraine-related sanctions on 155 persons and 44 entities until March, saying that its “assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the sanctions regime.” A separate series of European Ukraine-related sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy are in place until January and there are sanctions on Crimea itself until June. Likewise, the U.S.’ Ukraine-related economic sanctions on Russia are in place until March.

Eurasia Group’s Brideau said more sanctions were now likely. “The most that Washington and Brussels are likely to impose at this stage is more sanctions against individuals and entities. Stronger sanctions that might target new economic sectors or major Russian oligarchs are unlikely unless the episode escalates,” he said.

“New fighting would make sanctions escalation more likely but, even in this case, the potential for much stronger action against sovereign debt or Russian crude oil exports would remain low.”

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday asked a judge to sanction lawyers for accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman because his wife allegedly used a cellphone in the New York courthouse where he is on trial. Marshals at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, in reviewing security footage from Nov. 19, “observed Ms. Coronel using a cellular telephone inside the courthouse,” said the letter to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan. That was a day after courthouse staff “had observed Ms. Coronel using

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday asked a judge to sanction lawyers for accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman because his wife allegedly used a cellphone in the New York courthouse where he is on trial.

Guzman has previously twice escaped custody in Mexico.

Prosecutors claimed in a letter that an unnamed person or persons “appear to have used cellular telephones in concert with an attorney visit to the defendant following two trial days last week to facilitate unauthorized and [under special security rules] impermissible contact between” Guzman and his wife, former beauty queen Emma Coronel Aispuro.

U.S. Marshals at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, in reviewing security footage from Nov. 19, “observed Ms. Coronel using a cellular telephone inside the courthouse,” said the letter to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan. That was a day after courthouse staff “had observed Ms. Coronel using a cellular telephone inside the courthouse.”

Prosecutors noted they had mentioned the use of that phone during sidebar conferences with Cogan and defense lawyers at Guzman’s trial Monday, out of earshot of the jury in the case.

Cellphones are not allowed to be brought into that courthouse beyond the security screening area by individuals who are not lawyers or are authorized to carry electronic communication and recording devices.

Cogan earlier this month had rejected a request by lawyers for the escape-prone Guzman to allow him to give Coronel a brief hug before his trial began.

The action sparked an international outcry, as well as calls for more sanctions against Russia. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Monday that he will impose martial law across Ukraine for 30 days, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 28. In a statement released later Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed Haley’s condemnation of Russia’s actions in the Black Sea. Pompeo also urged Putin and Poroshenko to “engage directly to resolve this situation.” Haley did not say whether the U.S. would co

The action sparked an international outcry, as well as calls for more sanctions against Russia.

But the Kremlin’s foreign ministry blamed Ukraine for the incident, saying Kiev concocted a “painstakingly thought-through and planned provocation” that was “aimed at igniting another source of tension in the region in order to create a pretext to ramp up sanctions against Russia.”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Monday that he will impose martial law across Ukraine for 30 days, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 28.

In a statement released later Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed Haley’s condemnation of Russia’s actions in the Black Sea. Pompeo also urged Putin and Poroshenko to “engage directly to resolve this situation.”

Haley noted during the Monday meeting that Trump’s administration “would welcome a normal relationship with Russia.”

Trump has complimented Putin before and after becoming president. During a joint news conference in Helsinki in July, Trump even appeared to side with Putin over the conclusions of his own U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Haley did not say whether the U.S. would consider ramping up sanctions against Russia in retaliation for its “violation under international law.”

But the U.S. will maintain existing sanctions slapped on Russia for its annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, she said, and “further Russian escalation of this kind will only make matters worse.”

The “outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory is part of a pattern of Russian behavior that includes the purported annexation of Crimea, and abuses against countless Ukrainians in Crimea,” Haley said, “as well as stoking a conflict that has taken the lives of more than ten thousand people in eastern Ukraine.”

JP Morgan has cut its outlook for oil, predicting that Brent crude prices will average $73 a barrel in 2019 — down from the investment bank’s previous forecast of $83.50 a barrel. JP Morgan expects the price of Brent, the international benchmark for oil, to go toward $64 in 2020. In Asian trade on Thursday, Brent crude was trading at around $63.45 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was around $54.61 a barrel. Crude oil prices have seen ups-and-downs this year, with prices spiking to mul

JP Morgan has cut its outlook for oil, predicting that Brent crude prices will average $73 a barrel in 2019 — down from the investment bank’s previous forecast of $83.50 a barrel.

Scott Darling, head of Asia-Pacific oil and gas at JP Morgan told CNBC that the investment bank recently revised its outlook in part due to North American supply ramping up in the second half of next year. JP Morgan expects the price of Brent, the international benchmark for oil, to go toward $64 in 2020.

In Asian trade on Thursday, Brent crude was trading at around $63.45 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was around $54.61 a barrel.

Demand growth will weigh, particularly after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to ramp up production earlier this year, he said.

The market is now focused on the group’s next meeting on December 6 for guidance. Darling said OPEC needs to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day for the whole of next year to balance the oil market.

Crude oil prices have seen ups-and-downs this year, with prices spiking to multi-year highs in October due to Trump’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran. Sanctions on the third-biggest producer in OPEC has put upward pressure on oil prices throughout much of the year.

Major crude oil benchmarks spiked to four-year highs one month before the sanctions went into force, but that rally has since unwound spectacularly. Oil prices have plunged 30 percent since early October, dragged lower by a broader market sell-off and growing consensus that supply will outstrip demand next year.

“U.S. politics has played a part …(but) it’s still been supply-demand driven,” said Darling.

His comments came after President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his defense of Saudi Arabia, thanking the kingdom for helping to keep a lid on oil prices, even amid bipartisan criticism for his support for Riyadh after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Trump administration has relied on Saudi Arabia to hike output — and convince other producers to pump more oil — in order to offset the inflationary impact of its hawkish Iran policy.

Denmark has suspended future approvals of weapons and military equipment exports to Saudi Arabia in response to the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist and the kingdom’s role in the conflict in Yemen, the Danish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest weapons importers. “With the continued deterioration of the already terrible situation in Yemen and the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, we are now in a new situation,” said Foreign Minister And

Denmark has suspended future approvals of weapons and military equipment exports to Saudi Arabia in response to the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist and the kingdom’s role in the conflict in Yemen, the Danish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Germany has already suspended issuing future weapons export licences and has moved to halt all arms sales, while France said on Monday said it will decide soon on sanctions over Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest weapons importers. It heads a military coalition fighting in a civil war in Yemen in which tens of thousands of people have died and caused a major humanitarian catastrophe.

“With the continued deterioration of the already terrible situation in Yemen and the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, we are now in a new situation,” said Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen in a statement.

Denmark issued ten such approvals last year, according to the ministry. Already given approvals will not be suspended, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised Saudi Arabia for helping to lower oil prices but pressure intensified for the United States to impose tougher sanctions on its Middle East ally over Khashoggi’s murder.

As investigations into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi continue to cause diplomatic tensions, the U.K.’s foreign office told CNBC that it is ready to sanction Saudi Arabia if evidence points to its involvement in the death. The U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that the U.K. had been clear “that we need to see accountability for the horrific murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.” “We are exploring with EU (European Union) partners the potential for an EU global

As investigations into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi continue to cause diplomatic tensions, the U.K.’s foreign office told CNBC that it is ready to sanction Saudi Arabia if evidence points to its involvement in the death.

The U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that the U.K. had been clear “that we need to see accountability for the horrific murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

“We are exploring with EU (European Union) partners the potential for an EU global human rights sanctions regime, which could address such brutal human rights violations,” an foreign office spokesperson told CNBC in a statement Monday.

“We will of course wait for the final outcome of the Turkish investigation before making any decisions,” the spokesperson said.

The foreign office said it would base any decision on punitive action against Saudi Arabia on the kingdom’s own explanation for Khashoggi’s death.

“The actions Britain and our allies take will depend on two things: Firstly the credibility of the final explanation given by Saudi Arabia, and secondly on our confidence that such an appalling episode cannot — and will not — be repeated.”

Saudi Arabia continues to strenuously deny any involvement in Khashoggi’s death, it’s foreign minister stating in October that the death happened during an “operation where individuals ended up exceeding the authorities and responsibilities they had.” It has already announced forthcoming prosecutions of 11 suspects and it is seeking the death penalty for five of them.

A report by the CIA has purportedly come to a different conclusion, however, with media reports suggesting at the weekend that the CIA has said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder. Saudi’s foreign minister said early Tuesday that the CIA’s assessment of the murder was false. A full report could be released by the CIA on Tuesday, President Trump said.

CNBC has asked the U.K. Foreign Office for further detail on what kind of restrictions it could impose on Saudi Arabia and has asked for further detail on an EU global human rights sanctions regime.